No reason other than I love you
by ekc293
Summary: In which Castle is late and tries to make amends. Set between 05x01 and 05x02.


This was another tumblr prompt. It kind of ran away from me...

* * *

She was bored.

Bored and incredibly annoyed.

She had three days left of her suspension, her last Friday off before she had to report to the precinct or whatever body drop happened to occur on Monday morning. Her last free night that would undoubtedly not be marred by death or destruction, where there was absolutely no chance that she would get sucked into a case, or be woken up by a dead body, because the next day she was having dinner with Lanie and on Sunday it was dinner with her dad.

And Castle had been in meetings all day.

He left her bed at 6:30 that morning, waking her up to say goodbye before he slunk back to his loft, hoping to avoid his mother and daughter and questions he wasn't ready to answer quite yet. He had a meeting with Black Pawn at ten about a contract extension, and then another meeting at three with Paula and Gina about a publicity tour early next year. He told her he would come and pick her up, take her out to a quiet dinner or a show around 6 to celebrate her last Friday off, and he'd text her if the plans changed.

_Who knows when we'll be able to have a real date night_, he had told her this morning, _this may be our only chance_.

She had rolled her eyes, thought about bringing up the fact that they were trying to keep this a secret but she knew he would have already though about that, so she didn't say no.

And now it was 8, going on 8:30, and she was annoyed. She had changed out of the jeans she knew he loved and the top that made her chest look fantastic, and changed into her old, faded, Batman shirt and a pair of boxers. Her heels had come off, her feet bare as she sat curled up on her couch, James Patterson's newest book clutched against her chest as she glared at her phone.

She would not call him.

She sighed, shaking her head because this was not high school and she was not clingy and he could do whatever he wanted. Who cares if she curled her hair the way she knew he liked it, and did her make-up the way that made her eyes stand out, and re-painted her nails, and shaved her legs until they were perfectly smooth?

She didn't.

No, of course not.

She scowled at her phone again, lifting it up, checking to see if there were any messages she missed.

Nothing.

She growled, tossing the phone beside her on her couch before flipping to the first page of Patterson's book.

She had only gotten about 10 pages in before she heard a knock at the door. Marking the page, she closed her book and set it back on the arm of the sofa, sighing as she unfurled her legs and made her way to the door.

She opened the door, not even bothering to check who was on the other side because really? Who else was it going to be?

She took him in as she crossed her arms over her chest. He was still wearing his suit, the tie loosened slightly from around his neck, his jacket unbuttoned. He looked tired, his hair no longer perfect, the lines around his eyes a little more prominent. In one hand he held his briefcase and a plastic bag, in the other, a bouquet of flowers.

She felt her composure crumple slightly at the sight, and she shifted her weight from side to side.

"I'm an ass," he said, breaking the silence first.

Kate felt her lips quirk up without her permission before she smoothed them back down.

"I should have called," he said, "and I'm sorry."

Kate took him in again, before sighing, moving slightly off to the side, a silent invitation for him to come in.

He smiled at her softly, stepping over the threshold, the plastic bag rustling in his hands as he placed his briefcase by the door. He held out the flowers to her.

"For you," he murmured.

She took them from him for a moment, the bright red of the slightly wilted roses and the purple lilies that were her favorite and she didn't know how he knew that softening her even more.

"How did you get flowers at…" she looked over at the clock on her wall, "… 8:45 at night?"

He shifted his weight, his shoes squeaking on the floor of her foyer.

"I bought them while we were at lunch... Can't have a true date night without buying you flowers. Or dinner," he added, holding up the plastic bag in his hands, "I brought Lucio's."

She pursed her lips before holding out her free hand to him. He took it gently in his own, his fingers completely incasing her slender ones, and she led him towards the kitchen. They worked silently, Kate pulling out a vase for the flowers and Rick moving around her kitchen to get dinner ready. He pulled out a bottle of wine from the plastic bag and the takeout containers, grabbing wine glasses, plates, and silverware all before she had even finished putting water in her vase. She set them on the counter before she walked over to him. He turned and handed her their glasses of wine before picking up their plates. He looked at her questioningly, his eyes flitting to the dining room but she shook her head, and led them over to the couch. She put their wine on the coffee table as she settled down on the sofa, taking their plates from him as he shucked off his suit jacket and toed out of his shoes before he sat down beside her.

They ate in silence for a moment, both of them eating enough to satisfy their immediate hunger before they began to talk.

"Why were you late?" she asked quietly, setting her plate onto the table and picking up her wine in exchange.

Rick sighed, putting his own plate next to hers before putting his arm behind her on the back of the couch, rubbing a hand across his face.

"This publicity tour Paula and Gina want me to go on," he said tiredly, his hand working his jaw. "They want me to go for 2 months – a month in the states and a month in Canada starting the first week of the new year. I told them that I didn't want to be gone longer than 3 weeks which led to a whole slew of arguing about contracts and priorities. But Alexis will be home for at least a week of that before classes start back up again. And then there's the precinct… and you."

She looked up at him, only to find him looking down at her fondly and her heart started doing that thing in her chest where it beat faster against her ribcage because she knew that look.

It looked like forever.

He couldn't call because he was arguing with his ex-wife and publicist about not doing his work so he could stay with her.

He was making it really hard to be angry with him.

"Still," he said, "I should have let you know I would be late. I could have texted you or something. I'm sorry."

She sighed, putting her wine down on the table, moving so that she was pressed into his side, her arms moving to wrap around his waist. His arm immediately wrapped around her shoulders, pressing a kiss against the top of her hair and he sighed, settling onto the couch. She let her eyes slid shut, content to sit here with him and feel his chest rising and falling under her cheek.

It wasn't long before she felt him go rigid against her.

"Kate…" he said softly.

"Yeah?" she responded, refusing to open her eyes.

"What's that?"

"What's what?"

He reached around her and she finally opened her eyes at the movement before he settled back into his spot on the couch, her Patterson novel in his hands. He looked at her, his expression horrified

"I come home late and you cheat on me?"

Kate lifted the book out of his hands, propping herself up on her knees before placing it back on the coffee table.

"I didn't cheat on you," she said, rolling her eyes, "Just because I'm dating you doesn't mean I'm going to stop reading other authors."

"And I don't expect you to. It's just… _Patterson?!_"

She smirked, throwing a leg over his legs. He looked up at her, his brow furrowed, but she could see the way his blue eyes turned darker.

"You have nothing to worry about," she said, her hand moving up to further loosen the knot of his tie, "I already know who the killer is."

He looked up at her, his chest rising and falling deeply as she worked at his tie, his hands coming to rest on her hips.

"Is that so?"

"Mhm," she hummed, pulling the tie from around his neck, her fingers playing with the buttons of his Oxford shirt, "he's losing his touch."

"Really?" Rick asked, his voice hopeful like a little boy and she had to bite back a smile.

"Yeah…" she said, shifting on the couch to press herself closer against him. She plucked one of his hands off of her waist, sliding it up under her shirt so she could feel his rough palms against her skin.

"… And you just found yours."

He barked out a laugh, looking up at her, his burning gaze dancing in delight.

"That was bad," he said, trying to bite back a smile as his other hand slid down her waist until her was touching the bare skin of her thigh.

"But it worked," she said, her fingers fumbling with the buttons on his cuffs as his calloused fingertips scratched across her skin.

"Bad puns are not the way to seduce a writer, Kate."

"Maybe not," she answered, "But I wasn't aware I needed anything special to seduce _my _writer."

She pushed his shirt down his arms before he slid both of his hands up her shirt, sliding the baggy cotton over her head, tossing it somewhere behind him.

"Touché," he growled at the sight of her bare chest, leaning forward and pressing his lips to the skin at her collarbone.

She grabbed his face in both of her hands, tilting his face so he was kissing her and then he shifted, pushing himself off the back of the couch so he could sit on the edge. He wrapped her legs around his waist, his own arms locking around her hips as he stood up, her arms winding tightly around his shoulders as she broke the kiss, letting her lips trail down his neck as he walked them towards her bedroom.

She did shave after all.

And it was date night.

_Actually_… she thought as Castle put her down on her bed, his weight on top of her as he kissed her, _she doesn't really need a reason, does she?_

Nope.

No she does not.

* * *

It feels so good to write again.


End file.
